ARTIFEX is an ERASMUS+ project designed to establish a practical European framework for STEM education in innovative out-of-the-classroom learning environments such as Fablabs or Makerspaces. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, thus incorporating science, technology and mathematics. A Fablab or Makerspace is a small-scale workplace where you can manufacture products using modern technologies such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

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ABOUT US

AgSO coördinator

“AG Stedelijk Onderwijs Antwerpen” (AgSO) is the public authority centre for the Municipal Education of Antwerp. The Municipal Education includes 116 schools on 172 locations spread over Antwerp. It can count on more than 6.500 employees and 55.000 learners in the fields of preschool and primary education, secondary education, special education, adult education and part-time art education. The municipal education of Antwerp is founded in 1819 with the ambition to offer accessible and qualitative education for everyone. The situation is no different today, as the city's diversity is reflected in our diverse school population. AgSO can count on 165 nationalities among his entire student population.

Fablab+ is a creative laboratory created by AGSO and supporting STEM working of primary and secondary education. Once a week Fablab+ is also open to adult citizens of the City of Antwerp. During the weekends, the Fablab+ is open to young entrepreneurs.

Euroface Consulting s.r.o.

Euroface Consulting is a consulting and training centre fostering links between the education and production sectors, regionally and with some international outreach. Key strengths are people management skills and use of ICT that supports inclusion and equality, most notably Open Source applications and free internet based resources. Euroface has been responsible for development of websites and e-learning applications in several European projects, e.g. DYSLANG (LLP) and ENTREE (LLP). Euroface is dedicated to lowering the barriers to enter to education and the labour market through reducing costs for training and qualifications and acting as an agent for transfer innovation.

Euroface is focused on counselling and career guidance since 2010 where already almost 200 socially disadvantaged people were supported to enhance their chance to get a sustainable job position.

Euroface has extensive experience in EU projects, including leadership of three transversal projects (GEBOL - Getting European Business On-line, DysVet - Dyslexia Knowledge Transfer in VET system and In Place – Innovative Video Presentations for Learning Creative Entrepreneurship).

H-Farm Education

H-FARM EDUCATION is part of H-FARM which facilitates the creation of projects that simplify the use of digital tools and services for people and companies, and provide support to companies in the digitalization of their operations. H-FARM is set up in a historic farm estate overlooking the Venice lagoon. The H stands for Human, which underlines the objective of developing initiatives that make operations simpler. The concept also extends to the 550 young people working on the different innovation projects. They enjoy its welcoming atmosphere, which facilitates the exchange of knowledge and ideas. In the heart of the green landscape of Ca’ Tron farm - territory, H-FARM is working hard to create an enterprise innovation Village. The new enterprises that will be set up and develop here will have the task of interacting with traditional companies, guiding them and helping them become open to innovation and to the vast opportunities that digitalization represents.

Through the use of the English language, digital experimentation and an interactive didactic model, H-FARM EDUCATION offers a completely new method of learning, which is applied to the current educational programs of the H-International School (from primary to high school), the H-Digital Transformation School of business (university-level and Masters programs) and H-Digital Design School. Our educational project is designed in an innovative way that makes it markedly different to the traditional model: the typical classroom is transformed into a laboratory where hands-on projects become one of the main learning methods.

EDUBRON – University of Antwerp

The University of Antwerp is a young, dynamic and forward-thinking university. It integrates the assets of its historic roots with its ambition to contribute positively to society. The University of Antwerp espouses active pluralism. In that spirit, it stimulates critical research and teaching, reflection and debate on scientific, social, philosophical and ethical questions.

Research Unit Edubron

Edubron is the main research unit in the department of Training and Educational Science at the University of Antwerp’s Faculty of Social Sciences. The main objective of Edubron is to provide educational research with impact, both at the national and the international level. The driving principle is to generate high-quality, innovative research, with both an academic and a societal relevance. In this way, the Edubron team hopes to become a point of reference for fellow academics, policy-makers and educational practitioners. The research activities centre on questions that relate to the effects of educational processes and the mechanisms behind these effects and involve both applied and fundamental research. A major point of departure in this respect is undertaking ‘targeted’ research in which a combination of different types of qualitative and quantitative research methods is applied to specific problems. In addition to research, Edubron also has many years of experience in education, service provision and consultancy.

KARLSTADS UNIVERSITET

Karlstad University has approximately 16000 students and 1150 staff within social sciences, humanities, natural science, technology and health. Karlstad University focuses on delivering both applied and multidisciplinary research that can be directly utilised within society, as well as fundamental research that contributes to the evolution of the academic field. The university is very active in international, national and regional collaborations with a wide range of partners in academia, industry and public institutions and has also been involved in several EU projects.

The Centre of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education Research (SMEER), is the organisation within the Faculty of Health, Science and Technology for research activities in science, mathematics and engineering education research, for doctoral studies and for connecting teacher education in these fields with education research. SMEER aims to contribute to the international scientific knowledge in science, mathematics and engineering education, in various contexts of learning; from preschool to secondary school, at university and in society, especially in the field of empirical studies of teaching and learning processes. The activities are based on international and national networks, practice-oriented research related to school, university and working life.

ARTEVELDE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Ghent

Artevelde University College Ghent, member of the Ghent University Association (AU GENT), is one of Flanders' largest university colleges (13,000 students). It offers study programs in teacher training, business management, communications, graphic education, health care and social work. Artevelde University College Ghent is a knowledge center for education, research and services, where students, staff and strategic partners cooperate and develop their talents in a stimulating and internationally oriented environment. As an institute based on a culture of internationalization, Artevelde University College Ghent is an active partner in diverse international networks, attends various international conferences and collaborates intensively with international partners for educational and research purposes.

Artevelde University College concentrates most of its research activities in Research and Development Centres (RDCs). Relevant for ARTIFEX is the Research and Development Centre QUEST.

QUEST consists of experts of 4 training programmes: Bachelor of Pre-School Education, Bachelor of Primary Education, Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. The central objective of this RDC is eliciting and supporting an inquisitive attitude in children and youngsters. The center explicitly opts for research that is oriented towards, as well as rooted into practice, such as educational and curriculum design research. Problems and questions that arise in real classroom settings are the basis for the practices and routines developed by the research group. Its working method is deliberately collaborative, with teachers and pupils acting as co-researchers of the designs. and cooperative learning into educational design research.

The QUEST center provides Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses and workshops in the domain of STEM and STEAM (STEM + arts). They have experience with implementing a variety of high-tech tools and materials, such as 3D printers, laser cutters etc. in a formal and non-formal learning environment.

ELLINOGERMANIKI AGOGI S.A.

Ellinogermaniki Agogi (EA) is an educational organization of private law, officially recognized by the state. Established in 1995, the Research and Development Department of EA provides the test bed for research applications for the design, development and implementation of the research activities in education. The R&D Department acts therefore as an interface between the pedagogical research, the technological innovation and the school community. It focuses on the design, implementation and support of pedagogical and technological innovation in educational practice, both through internal research as well as through collaborations with numerous educational, research and commercial institutions in Europe and the world.

EA has a very strong vision-generated interest and rich research and development activity in the fields of Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE), Project Based Learning (PBL), and STEM education in combination with digital, online based learning environments and tools that use virtual reality, augmented reality and story-based education. EA is continuously modernizing STEM education by promoting and creating user-driven learning environments for students and offering numerous opportunities for teachers’ professional development to be prepared and thrive in the landscape of unprecedented challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.

National Training Centre, Adam Smith College of Management

The National Training Centre (NTC-BG) is a privately owned training organisation established in 1999. It is actively engaged in research and development of training innovation. It has two principal divisions, closely interlinked with each other, one entrusted with vocational training at national level, and the other one dealing with international research and projects. The training arm is well-known under the name of Adam Smith College of Management (ASCM) and specialised in adult business training, offering two training routes: one for people without economics/business background, with a duration of 2 yrs and a national accreditation at EQF L5, and the other one for people with economics/business background (either education/training, or work experience) with a duration of 1 yr and a British accreditation at EQF L6. All training content is also delivered via an online e-learning platform, and content is being regularly updated and expanded. The research arm of NTC-BG is focused on the following areas since 2003: training innovation, training delivery and assessment methodologies, competence-based and project-based assessment models, quality in VET, IT integration in training, equal opportunities (for people with disabilities and/or SEN), promotion of entrepreneurship.

NTC-BG has a staff of just under 20, 15 of which are faculty.

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The ARTIFEX Project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.